His latest interview on the Hub seems to indicate he likely has not.
18 Aug 2025: Poilievre/By-election in Battle River–Crowfoot (AB)
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RangerRay
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Will be interesting to see if he gets 83%
Also, the Tories didn’t run against Chrétien in New Brunswick after he became Liberal and Opposition leader.
Mind you, most of the time when a leader of the losing party loses their seat, they resign.
Also, the Tories didn’t run against Chrétien in New Brunswick after he became Liberal and Opposition leader.
Mind you, most of the time when a leader of the losing party loses their seat, they resign.
I’m not putting g much stock in that one given this is a by election. But I can see how either side will use that.
Good observation.
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True enough, but one could argue that this was effectively not the same seat as previous elections.
I think we can probably all just agree that there’s no meaningful and consistent convention on this; it tends to vary.
I don’t know if “official opposition leader loses own seat, stays on as party leader, runs for another seat handed to him” has a modern precedent. We don’t have a mould for this; it’s just Poilievre and the party each making their decisions in their own interest. So far his dominance in the party is such that his and their interests overlap, at least to those making the decisions. But then, the CPC hasn’t had a forced decision point yet as they will come the leadership review. We’ll see how Poilievre does through the fall and winter. Being back in Parliament will restore him to his favourite pulpit at least
rmc_wannabe
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I think Poilievre looking into the House like a child in a Dickens novel for the past 2 months hasn't done wonders for his party or his image.
Additionally, his relevance has taken a massive hit. He leaned into being portrayed as the "opposite of Trudeau" leader we needed; only to have the LPC call his bluff and do it themselves. A lot of the policies the LPCs are moving forward are ones the CPC have had in their playbooks for at least a decade.
I have a hard time thinking PP is who the CPC needs to counter a government they have so much common ground with. If he takes the same approach when he finally comes back to the House, he's going to come across as the whiny nerd who is bitter the cheerleader said no to him taking her to prom.
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“Wait, so now we can get these policies but without that guy? Great!” is a dynamic that’s happening right now and will so long as it remains true.
Here’s the LPC candidate’s bio for the riding:
Poilievre will win it of course, but the LPC are running a professional petroleum sector engineer who grew up in and has family (farming) roots in the area. He built his own business and remains active in the energy sector.
There’s no seat to be won here for the LPC, but they’ll have the opportunity to continue to point to Poilievre having no background outside of politics and being a parachute candidate who’s clearly not there for the riding. They have an opportunity to do some modestly useful political shaping ops.
Poilievre will win it of course, but the LPC are running a professional petroleum sector engineer who grew up in and has family (farming) roots in the area. He built his own business and remains active in the energy sector.
There’s no seat to be won here for the LPC, but they’ll have the opportunity to continue to point to Poilievre having no background outside of politics and being a parachute candidate who’s clearly not there for the riding. They have an opportunity to do some modestly useful political shaping ops.
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Running in an Alberta riding with the current atmosphere, I would suspect not. What may be more telling (assuming he wins) is how the polls assess his performance as Opposition leader.
Halifax Tar
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Its interesting isn't it ? The LPC pushed so far left they took over the space of the NDP, and now they are able to swing right and push into Conservative ground.
All with a horrible track record over the last 10 years.
It really makes for interesting stuff.
For the record, again, PP should step down as leader.
He’s certainly capable of being oppositional- but a fair bit of his policy lunch is getting gobbled up. It’ll be interesting to see what he can get new traction with.
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From an organizational norms perspective, "one and done" is extremely damaging to the party.
Sure, it can be. However they also need to be introspective, ask if the situation has changed, and if it has (and it has), ask whether they still have the right person at the helm. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Sunk cost fallacy can be damaging too.
Maxman1
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They haven't followed that tradition since King's day.
It happened multiple times in the 1920s when Arthur Meighan and William Lyon Mackenzie King both lost their seats.
And on the topic of not running a candidate against the other party's leader in a by-election, in 1926, when King ran in Prince Albert, the Conservatives didn't run a candidate, although John Diefenbaker convinced a friend to run as an independent; Diefenbaker himself ran in the 1926 general election, the only time a future Prime Minister has ran against the sitting Prime Minister.
Halifax Tar
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In a pre 2025 world I would agree wholeheartedly with you.
But the world changed underneath PPs feet and he proved he was unable to adjust to the new lay of the land.
Just my own humble opinion losing and election is one thing, but losing his seat is a bridge to far for me.
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QV
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Imagine a place where voters are so dissatisfied with the current government and it's policies after a decade of rule that the voters then re-elect the same government because it promised to implement the opposition's policies.
Right? I feel a bit bad for Poilievre. It’s gotta sting a bit to put all that work in, take a double digit edge in the polls, and then still lose decisively and have the voters show more trust that the other guy is competent to actually bring policies to fruition than you are. I guess real world experience matters to some. Credit to him for sticking around to give it another try I suppose.Imagine a place where voters are so dissatisfied with the current government and it's policies after a decade of rule that the voters then re-elect the same government because it promised to implement the opposition's policies.
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We get the government we deserve.
QV
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The LPC has inadvertently discovered a winning strategy with the 'just enough Canadian voters': change the head on the snake, make promises you see gaining traction with your opposition which are 180 from your position... then do what you want after the election. Rinse/repeat.
